Raees, the Bollywood flick was famous for this dialog by the protagonist Raees Alam, played by Shahrukh Khan – Koi Dhandha Chota Nahi Hota Aur Dhandhe Se Bada Koi Dharam Nahi Hota… This is true not only for business but jobs as well.

I retrospect on my first job search in the small town of Udaipur after clearing my Chartered Accountancy examinations, where not many professional jobs were available. Though I was continuing with the CA firm, where I completed articleship for CA, I was determined to expand my learning experience with a variety of different clients, so I applied for data entry job in another slightly larger CA firm.

You may be wondering, what kind of experience I could get by being a computer operator, but I kept my ego aside of being a Chartered Accountant and focused on learning about different clients through data entry.  This would also help me brush up my computer skills. At that time hardly anyone knew Lotus123 and Word Pro, so I got the job. On job, my employer observed that I knew much more than just data entry, so eventually they started taking me along audits, tax and other office work as a professional CA.  So, now you see – koi Dhandha chota nahi hota, otherwise I wouldn’t have got the opportunity to join such a reputed CA firm in town.

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That was just the beginning of my career and one thing I followed all through my journey was “never stop learning”. One of my client asked me once, how I was doing in my current job and when I responded “I am very comfortable and enjoying this job”, he replied then “It’s time to change”. I was puzzled, so he explained that anytime you are comfortable in your job, that means you are not learning new things and that’s the time, you should move on. Undoubtedly that was the best tip I got in my career that one should always stay vulnerable and keep learning new skills.

I see young people now a days who keep looking out for a perfect job with highest salary and best job title, rather than paying attention to how that job is going to enhance their skills. Do they ever pay attention to how will they continue to be marketable in job market, 5 years from now? If I would have waited for a perfect job, I probably would be still waiting. They look at my current position and said we want to work for a big firm like you and do not want to waste the knowledge at small firm, because they can’t value their skills and don’t pay well. That’s when I tell them my secret, you know, how did I got my first job in a foreign country? It was no different than how I got my first job in my home town.

Though I had CA and CPA on my resume, it wasn’t easy to find a job in a foreign country without experience of local accounting and taxation system, so just like how I got my first job in hometown, I walked into a local small CPA firm and asked for work. Knowing that it was a small CPA Firm and may not be able to afford an extra headcount, I offered to work without pay. I just wanted to learn local accounting and taxation work and gain some experience.

They could noticed my strong desire for learning so allowed me to work at their firm. The partner of the firm was also very genuine, so he offered me a minimum wage rate for my hours (similar to what a construction labor would earn). Though no one would expect such a small payout after earning CA and CPA, but honestly that proved to be a lifeline for me. I gained tremendous experience and confidence in that job, which helped me climb the success ladder ahead.

Because….”Koi Dhandha chota nahi hota”, you just need to have a learning attitude.